A generic headrest of the state of the art is disclosed in WO 95/09742. The described headrest has a tilting adjusting mechanism and a height adjustment mechanism for adjustment of the tilt and height of the headrest relative to the backrest of a seat. The adjustment mechanisms for tilt and height are mounted on the rear side of the headrest facing away from the seat occupant and are partly integrated with the backrest of the seat. The longitudinal guides for the height adjustment mechanism are a component of the backrest and are rigidly connected to the frame structure of this backrest. The pivot shaft, about which the headrest moves as its tilt is adjusted, is positioned in the plane formed by the longitudinal guides and is correspondingly repositioned vertically when the height of the headrest is adjusted. The components of the tilt and height adjustment mechanism are mounted in the central area of the headrest, so that the potential tilt adjustment range, in particular, is reduced by the disclosed solution.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,655,241 and 3,547,486 disclose generic headrests for a passenger seat having at least one tilt adjustment mechanism and one height adjustment mechanism for adjustment of the tilt or the height of the headrest relative to the backrest of the seat on which the headrest may be mounted. A pivot shaft for the tilt adjustment of the headrest is mounted on an associated guide component facing away from the headrest, is a movably mounted and operates in conjunction with a longitudinal guide. Together with the longitudinal guide, the pivot shaft constitutes a component of the height adjustment mechanism The longitudinal guide is an integral component of the headrest, while the pivot shaft of the respective guide component is mounted stationary relative to the backrest.
In these conventional solutions, the pivot shaft as the tilt adjustment mechanism is guided along the upper side of the backrest, and is mounted in a common plane with the longitudinal guide of the height adjustment mechanism. In this configuration, the headrest may be moved back and forth relative to the backrest. Also, the additional option exists of pivoting the headrest forward and backward for the purpose of tilt adjustment, specifically as a result of the course of the pivot shaft diagonally and along the upper side of the backrest. The potential headrest adjustments of this configuration are accordingly restricted. The known solutions are also complicated in design.